Blades Tame Cyclones

ESTERO, FL – The most recent three game series between the Cincinnati Cyclones and the Florida Everblades marked the first time the Cyclones have had the opportunity to play hockey in warm and sunny Southwest Florida.
 
The two teams did play each other in the past when the Blades traveled to Cincinnati two years ago.   Blades Coach Malcolm Cameron was also a Head Coach of the Cyclones during the 2002-03 season.
 
Here is a look at how the series went.
 
Game 1, FLORIDA wins 5-0
 
Cincinnati came flying out of the gate and pressured Florida early in the first period.   Blades goalie Anton Khudobin made some impressive key saves to keep his team the game.   The Blades took over control in the later half of the period, but the period ended scoreless.
 
Florida owned the entire second period scoring four goals in just 10 minutes.   Kevin Baker started the charge scoring his 41^st goal of the season at 3:07 on a power play.   The goal set a new Blades single season scoring record. **image2***
 
Other Blades adding to the barrage were Noah Babin (scoring twice), and Brad Zanon who recorded his first professional goal, and was assisted by Khudobin to secure the point.   Florida went into the break ahead 4-0.
 
Cincinnati goalie Ryan Nie was pulled after Babin scored his second goal of the game at 13:13 of the second period and was replaced in the net by Loic Lacasse.
 
Florida finished the scoring at 10:03 of the third period with a power play goal by Peter Metcalf.
 
NOTES:   Baker’s 41^st goal of the season, leads the league and as mentioned set a new record for the Blades.   Anton Khudobin earned his 4^th shut out of the season ( Florida’s 8^th).   This was the first time that Cincinnati has been shut out all season.
 
POWER PLAY:   Florida 2 of 9; Cincinnati 0 of 9
GOALTENDERS:  
Florida – Anton Khudobin (WIN) – stopped 22/22 (18-7-1-1)
Cincinnati – Ryan Nie (LOSS) – stopped 17/21 (15-8-1-) Time of play: 33:13
Cincinnati – Loic Lacasse – stopped 9/10 – Time of play: 26:47
 
STARS OF THE GAME:
1 –  Kevin Baker ( FLA), 2 – Noah Babin ( FLA), 3 – Anton Khudobin ( FLA)
 

 
Game 2, CINCINNATI wins 3-2
 
The Florida Everblades ended their four game (home) win streak after a tough 3-2 loss.   Some careless passing on an early Florida power play put the puck into the hands of the Cyclones.
 
The Cyclones capitalized on the opportunity and Matt Syroczynski scored short-handed at just 1:42 left in the first period.   This was the 6^th short-handed goal allowed by Florida this season.
 
The Blades did respond halfway through the first with a power play goal by Mathieu Roy.
 
Later in the first, the game got interesting as Cyclones goalie Ryan Nie threw some punches around the net and was penalized two minutes for roughing.   Khudobin wanted a piece of the action and skated to the center line.   He motioned for Nie to see if he wanted to tussle.   Nie did not respond to the challenge so Khudobin slowly skated back to his crease.

 
However, the rest of the game belonged to the Cyclones.   Ben Gordon and Justin Johnson also scored for Cincinnati.
 
Although the Blades out shot Cincinnati 18-7 in the third period, they could not get one past Ryan Nie until the game was nearly over.   Mark Lee scored a power play goal with 2:38 remaining, but it was not enough for the Blades comeback attempt.
 
NOTES: Blades Coach Cameron commented after the game to the Ft. Myers News-Press.
 
“Penalties have been huge all year. Can you imagine how much better shape we’d be in if we were more disciplined? The league ranked us no.1 in stick infractions in January. Hooking and holding, that’s lazy, not moving your feet”.
POWER PLAY:   Florida 2 of 7; Cincinnati 0 of 8
 
GOALTENDERS:  
Cincinnati – Ryan Nie (WIN) – stopped 34/36 (16-8-1-1)
Florida – Anton Khudobin (LOSS) – stopped 21/23 (18-8-1-1)
 
STARS OF THE GAME:
1 – Ryan Nie (CIN), 2 – Mark Van Guilder (CIN), 3 – Mark Lee ( FLA)
 



Game 3 FLORIDA wins 3-1
 
Twenty-Two seconds into the game, the fighting began where it left off the night before.   Doug O’Brien and Matt Syrocyznski squared off and put on a show for the crowd.   Twenty seconds later more pushing and shoving erupted, but only warnings were issued.
 
The Blades controlled the puck but missed a number of opportunities from in close by being somewhat off on their timing early in the period.   They out shot Cincinnati 14-2 but the first period ended scoreless.
 
The Blades took early control in the second period with two quick goals in the first five minutes thanks to Ross Carlson at 4:11, and Kevin Baker at 4:48.
 
Although the Cyclones only managed to get three shots on goal in the second period they scored once to get within one of the Blades.   Mark Van Guilder netted a power play goal at 10:31.   The puck ricocheted off goalie David Leggio’s pads and went into the net. There was no other scoring until the end of the third when Florida secured a very important insurance goal by Colin Nicholson with just over three minutes left in the game.
 
Cincinnati pulled Nie from the net in the final two minutes of the game putting intense pressure on Leggio with the extra attacker.   Although Nie suffered the loss, he made some tremendous glove saves throughout the game.   The Blades out shot the Cyclones 42 to 12 for the game.
 
NOTES: Again Cameron commented after the game to the Ft. Myers News-Press.
 
“That’s as physical as we have been all year.   Good team effort, the transition game was good, good work ethic.   We stuck to our game plan for 60 minutes”.
 
POWER PLAY:   Florida 0 of 4; Cincinnati 1 of 7
 
GOALTENDERS:  
Florida – David Leggio (WIN) – stopped 11/12   (17-5-1-0)
Cincinnati – Ryan Nie (LOSS) – stopped 39/42 (16-9-1-1)
 
STARS OF THE GAME:
1 – Ross Carlson ( FLA), 2 – Yannick Tufu ( FLA), 3 – Colin Nicholson ( FLA)
 
NOTES / MOVES / RECORDS:
 
1- Kevin Baker scored his 41^st goal setting the Everblades Single-Season Scoring Record on 2/11/09 against the Cyclones.   The previous record was 40 goals and was held by Brian McCullough in the 2003-04 season.
 
2- Brad Zanon scored his first professional goal on 2/11/09 against the Cyclones (short-handed).
 
3- Noah Babin has been reassigned to the Albany River Rats of the AHL.
 
4- Two former Blades played for Cincinnati this weekend: Bill Kinkel and Ryan Van Buskirk.   The Cyclones skated with a short bench and signed the two extra players for the series against the Blades.
 
5 – Rookie Goaltender David Leggio was named the RBC Financial Group “Saver of the Month” for January 2009.   (8-0-0, 2 shut outs, 1.50 GAA (goals against average), .945% (save percentage).
 
6- Florida traded (Defense) Aaron Brocklehurst to the Victoria Salmon Kings ECHL for (Forward) Milan Gajic.
 
7- Yannick Tifu was reassigned to the Everblades from the Albany River Rats – AHL.
 
Contact the author at Sharon.Weatherhead@prohockeynews.com
Photos by Al Larson (Allarsonphoto.com)